tMiriztrnt Batt
Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Tuesday, April 13, 1976 News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Tenants Union strikes again
THE ANN ARBOR Tenants Union
may be fresh off its victory in
the Trony rent strike, but the TU
members are showing no signs of
slowing down in their quest for de-
cent, reasonably priced housing in
Ann Arbor.
This afternoon, the Tenants Union
is constructing a "model slum" on
the Diag, and afterwards will con-
duct a march and picket to the
offices of Reliable Realty Manage-
ment Company, another TU strike
target.
The Tenants Union organized its
rent strike against Reliable in Janu-
ary for the reasons which are all too
common in the Ann Arbor housing
market: substandard units, inade-
quate maintenance and unreasonable
rent.
The Tenants Union has already
proved that it can work to combat
these conditions which plague stu-
dents renters. The highly successful
Trony strike ended on a happy note
for student renters: for the first time
in Ann Arbor, tenants will have a ma-
jor say in such vital aspects of rent-
ing as the drawing of a lease and the
performance of maintenance.
The Trony victory will not be the
TU's last and it will continue full-
steam to revamp the town's renting
situation and fight for increased ten-
ant participation in the renting ex-
perience.
Plan to visit the "model slum" on
the Diag today at noon and march
with the Tenants Union to the offices
of Reliable Realty at 4 p.m. Take a
part in the revolutionizing of Ann
Arbor's housing market and rally
down with the TU!
AATU
By ROBERT MILLER suing1
feet of
IN ORDER FOR the Tenants basem
Union to be effective, it must Greene
work toward the protection of ing fal
all tenants while it deals with one bu
the specific problems of a screw
group of tenants. For this rea- which
son, it is essential to achieve a steel b
lective bargaining agreements, This se
which will give tenants the ed.
right to negotiate over future Why
leases and be able to influence these p
the terms of their tenancy. Col- there
lectice bargaining agreements, that th
in other words, will help ten- stein, t
ants, as a group. of Re
It is common, during a strike, which
to have pickets against the fall ap
landlord in question, in order to some
make people realize how bad amazed
the units of the landlord in ques- ing he
tion are, and to show landlords mainta
as well as tenants, that tenants conside
are beginning to organize to Invar
change and control the condi- are ov
tions by which they rent. We refrige
of the TU believe, therefore, a bedr
that the picket this afternoon of the
at the offices of Reliable Real- the ins
ty should be attended by all was not
tenants who want to change and liable3
improve the quality, and lower Ann Ar
the cost, of rental housing. ed, hig
The Conditions in Relia- mainter
ble" houses may be un- The
matched in Ann Arbor. Hot strong
water, heat and toilets do not in May
function dependably. In a house ing to;
on Prospect street, which is other s
Reliable for $25,000, two
sewage backed up in the
ent. Another house on
wood has a kitchen ceil-
ling down. There is even
ilding being held up by a
jack since the wood
was taking the place of
eams did not do the job.
ame house is bug infest-
do people, then, live in
pits? The answer is that
is little else available
ey can afford. Edith Ep-
the owner and manager
liable, buys old houses
she lets and lets then
part. A past owner of
Reliable houses was
d how poorly the build-
was born in had been
ined and he too, was
ring a suit.
iably, these houses
ercrowded. One time a
rator was moved into
oom without permission
tenant in order to fool
pector intobbelieving it
iused assa bedroom. Re-
Realty is a symbol of
bor housing. Overcrowd-
h rents and little if any
nance.
strike is 100 tenants
and will probably grow
. We are, however, will-
negotiate, whenever the
ide wants. We are in a
pickets
Reliable Realty
position where we are strong
because the evidence shows we
are right, and our organization
is strong. We can go to court
if the other side wants though
it may take months, or we can
reach a settlement soon. The
only thing we will not do is
come to an agreement which
does not satisfy the tenants and
prevent a continuation of man-
agement negligence.
It is no longer possible, if it
ever was, to put faith in the
landlord or even the city to es-
ttablish good housing. If the
landlords are capable of main-
taining their units in adequate
repair, why have they not done
so? The city, for its part, has
scuttled plans throughout the
years, for low cost housing in
the downtown area, lest it in-
trude upon the fruitful monop-
oly of the real estate powers.
The Mayor's Committee on
Fair Rental Practices is nerely
a shadow of responsibility. They
are conducting a survey costing
$38,000 dollars to investigate
"the problem" instead of try-
ing to solve. They have issued
a fifty page survey but as a
friend suggested, it is the poor-
est tenants who are most apt
not to fill out or return the sur-
vey.
As we have said before, we,
the tenants must act in our own
behalf to solve the problem. By
demonstrating against Reliable
Realty you can help one group
of tenants and show- all Ann
Arbor's landlords that tenants
will not stand still.
Robert Miller is the publicity
coordinator of the Ann Arbor
Tenants Union.
Monitor off-shore drilling
The selling of the cinema: 1976
A CONSORTIUM OF 31 major oil
companies has begun exploration
for shale oil off the New England
coast.
This move promises both good and
bad repercussions. On the good side,
the country needs more energy re-
sources, and extracting shale oil is
one of the few methods open right
now. Drilling could also bring job
opportunities for the swelling num-
-bers of unemployed along the east-
ern shore.
But there are many negative as-
pects to the prospective drilling,
which will begin in the fall if the oil
companies find the deposits are val-
uable. The most obvious and serious
problem is the potential harm that
could come to the coastal area if
there were oil spills there.
The area now being tested is about
a hundred miles off the Massachu-
setts shore, in the Georges Bank
area --fairly close to Cape Cod and
the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and
Nantucket, which are popular resort
areas. It also includes some of the
best fishing waters in the world. It
would be a serious economic, as well
as environmental mistake to allow
spoilage of these beautiful areas. And
although the Massachusetts govern-
ment was assured that no drilling
would take place closer than 50
miles offshore, government spokes-
men say that some tracts slated for
the work are in fact much closer than
that.
Fishermen also fear that 6il spills
will destroy the spawning grounds of
fish and lobster in the area, and that
the oil companies will take up all
TODAY'S STAFF:
NewsR: Susan AdesRob Meachum,
Jeff Ristine, Phil Bokovoy
Editorial Page: Marc Basson, Michael
Beckman, Stephen Hersh
Arts Page: Jim Valk
Photo Technician: Steve Kagan
the available port space, which
would effectively destroy the fishing
industry there.
This off-shore drilling should not
be allowed unless the oil companies
involved are required to take precau-
tions as stringent as possible against
oil spillage from the drill sites, and
against damage to the marine popu-
lation of the area.
The eco-systems of our inland and
marine waters are hanging in too
precarious a position to allow even
the slightest margin of error. Better
that industry spend the time and
money researching alternative ener-
gy sources. Our waters and wildlife
are too precious a commodity to be
gambled with.
But in the short run it isn't profit-
able for oil companies to spend mon-
ey and effort to protect ecology. Per-
haps the most efficient way to make
the nation's oil developers regard
ecology as a crucial priority wouldrbe
nationalization. The power and re-
sponsibility associated with the oil
industry would be better placed in
public than private hands.
Editorial Staff
ROB MEACHUM BILL TURQUE
Co~Editors-tn-Chief
JEFF RISTINE................hManaging Editor
TIM SCHICK. ........ .. Executive Editor
STEPHEN HERSH............Editorial Director
JEFF SORENSEN...........Arts Editor
CHERYL PILAr Magazine Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Tom Allen. Glen
Ailerhand, Marc Basson, Dana Bauman, David
Blomnquist, James Burns. Kevin Counthan,
Tom Godell, Kurt Harju, Charlotte Heeg,
Joril DimycK Mitch Dunitz, Elaine Fletcher,
Phil Foley. Mark Friedlander, David Garfinkel,
Richard James. Lois Josimovich, Tom Kettler,
Chris Kochmanski. Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann
Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lu-
bens, Teri Maneau, Angelique Matney, Jim
Nicoll. Maureen Nolan, Mike Norton. Ken Par-
sigian, Kim Potter, Cathy Reutter, Anne
Marie Schiavi, Karen Seuikins, Jeff Seilbt,
Rick Sobel, Tom Stevens, Steve Stojic, Cathi
Suyak, Jim Tobin, Jim valk, Margaret Yao,
Andrew Zerman, David whiting, Michael Beck-
man, Jon Pansius and Stephen Kureman.
By DAVID BLOMQUIST
FOR MOST FILMS, the struggle to
gather audiences begins as 16 square
inches somewhere in the back pages of
daily newspapers. The movie advertise-
ment inevitably reduces complicated
themes, rich characterization, and lavish
production design into a few phrases of
obnoxiously simple cliche. But without
an effective ad campaign, even the most
critically acclaimed pictures can wind up
as phenomenal duds.
This is the first article in a five part
series on how the motion picture indus-
try works.
Selling movies to the masses in the
seventies is much more difficult than
peddling a consumer staple. Soap and
toothpaste, like movies of old, have a
relatively guaranteed market - almost
everyone purchases one brand or an-
other. Yet according to a recent sur-
vey by the National Association of
Theater Owners, nearly half of all Amer-
icans virtually never attend films. The
motion picture ad, therefore, must not
only sell the particular movie, but must
implicitly sell the notion that cinema can
be a fun way to spend discretionary
leisure income.
Moreover, movies must post financial
success considerably faster than typical
consumer products, which often incur
losses for one or two years before break-
ing even. In most cases, films must make
money during the very first week of a
run, because attendance in later weeks
is largely dependent upon habitual film-
goers who see a picture shortly after
opening and then recommend the movie
to their friends - the so-called "word of
mouth" effect. If attendance is small
over the first week, the reasoning goes,
not enough word of mouth will be gen-
erated to sustain a film for an extend-
ed, profitable stay.
"If we could just package word of
mouth!" laments Franklin Osborne, dis-
trict sales manager for 20th Century-
Fox. "It's very, very important. It work-
ed for American Graffiti. It sold Young
Frankenstein and The Sting. It sells more
today than any other advertising medi-
umn."
The immediate goal of a film pub-
licity campaign, is to capture sufficient
audiences soon after a picture "breaks"
(that is, opens in a market) to start
substantial (and, with luck, favorable)
word of mouth rolling. If box office
grosses are small during the first week,
ads to emphasize a series of madcap
boat chases that populated Lucky Lady's.
plot line. "People now buy the film based
on the fact that it has got some action
in it," Kerr states.
That kind of quick-thinking marketing
savvy is new to film distribution, says
John Chambliss, regional advertising
manager for United Artists. "It's definite-
ly more of a science today than it was
years ago. A film today is like any other
product. You have to find out who buys
your picture, what kind of marketing
campaign works best, and what outlets
'Soap and toothpaste, like movies of old, have a rela-
tively guaranteed market - almost everyone purchases one
brand or another. Yet according to a survey by the Na-
tional Association of Theater Owners, nearly half of all
Americans virtually never attend films.'
:v si::vvsi ssi."...s;4.':.".}"..n4 i:.{ti.".:x:r.vis a i:: tiv..?:{''r"}v:v"".,s rxisa ".: es :r.".r..fr'::...a i ..4 ..::: ........
ager's own initiative. Papier-mache mod-
els - such as a giant shark in the lobby
for Jaws or a six-foot blimp over the
popcorn stand with The Hindenburg -
are favorite devices.
Some managers, like the Fifth For-
um's Maris Mickelson, regularly rent
costumes for employees that mesh with
the mood of the current feature. Mickel-
son dressed ushers in gorilla suits to
accompany The Groove Tube (the ape
was the picture's advertising symbol)
and in royal French haute couture to
lend an air of authenticity to The Four
Musketeers.
"IT'S A GIMMICK, but you don't really
know how well it works," Mickelson
admits. "You can dress up every film,
but if the picture is a flop, it's going
to flop anyway. The last time we got
dressed up for a film was for Gable
and Lombard, where we put on tuxedos
and '30s dresses and handed out bumper
stickers. But people really didn't seem
to notice. You've got to have a 'real
gimmick to attract their attention. You
can't be that subtle."
Neither in-theater promotion or media
advertising is inexpensive. (In fact, some
newspapers charge movie advertisers
more per line than retail customers.)
But outside of the film itself, the ad-
vertising campaign is probably the most
important element in determining the
success or failure, of a motion picture.
Millions of dollars typically ride on the
message and images conveyed in the
16 square inches of a movie ad. Tooth-
paste companies can cover an unsuccess-
fil introductory sales drive by issuing
a "new, improved" version, but there
really isn't a second chance for films.
Movies are, after all, only "first-run"
once. If the ad campaign flops then,
even a good picture becomes nothing
more than fodder for the late, late show.
David Blomquist, a former editor of
The Daily's Arts and Entertainment
Page, has written about film regularly
for The Daily.
studio publicity officers quickly rework
the advertising.
"All of us would like to have a nice
creative approach to advertising," says
Lon Kerr, 20th Century Fox's publicity
director in Detroit. "But some markets
are more sophisticated than others," he
explains. "Everybody likes to think that
you can come out with a nice prestige
thing and have it work. And then as
you start going down the line, you find
you've got to give it more of a 'B'
treatment."
j UCKY LAIPY, Fox's big Christmas
feature that turned out to be a holi-
day turkey, went through similar adver-
tising reorientation. The original posters
and television spots emphasized the
film's top-name talent (Gene Hackman,
Burt Reynolds, and Liza Minelli) and
Sting-like '20s setting. When that failed,
Fox turned to the dependable sales com-
modities of action and violence, re-edit-
ing TV commercials and drawing new
reach them," he notes.
Studio publicity officers like Kerr and
Chambliss, who have substantial experi-
ence in media marketing, make the
most important decisions on promotion
schemes. They tailor master campaign
proposals produced by central person-
nel in New York or Los Angeles to the
perculiarities and media environments
of each market.
Yet, surprisingly, the lowest rungs of
the film industry echelon - theater
managers - still play a key role in
developing, publicity for new movies. The
manager is largely responsible for sched-
uling "in-theater promotions" - marquee
or lobby display gimmicks that encour-
age word of mouth or pick up atten-
tion in local media.
Distributors prepare exhaustive vol-
umes called "press books" for theater
managers, which detail a host of pro-
motion ideas dreamed up by studio ad-
vertising staff. Many of the wackiest
projects, however, begin at the man-
Critici sm
To The Daily:
John McCarthy's letter of Ap-
ril 9 notwithstanding, I find Jef-
frey Selbst's reviews a delight-
ful contribution to the Arts
Page. Anybody can pen paeans
of praise, and at most student
newspapers the practice is to
lavish honeyed words on any
student production, irrespective
of its quality, if only because
gee whiz the kids tried hard,
and heart is what matters, isn't
it?
It's not. Merit matters. Sor-
ry, Charlie McCarthy.
Arguably, Mr. Selbst occa-
sionally obliterates the fine line
between intelligent criticism
and bad taste. Such are the
pratfalls any critic must evade.
Pauline Kael positively gushes
over movies she truly cares
for; yet few seriously suggest
that she tone down her enthu-
siastm.
I do not always agree with
Mr. Selbst, but nobody will ever
find their perceptions corres-
pond entirely with those of an-
other. We must permit Mr.
Selbst his say. Agree or dis-
agree with him, he has proved
etters
and Placement. The notion that
Mr. Selbst be stifled because
he has thus far failed to endear
himself to the performing com-
munity is repugnant to our be-
liefs about the freedom of the
press. Long live John Simon;;
All hail Rex Reed; and finally,
viva Jeffrey Selbst.
Barry Alexander
April 10
Christian
To The Daily:
AS A PROTESTANT Chris-
tian pastor and an enthusiastic
subscriber to the Daily, I want
to vigorously disassociate my-
self from the sick brand of re-
ligious faith mirrored in the
Daily story of April 2 headlin-
ed, "Woman barred from
school for pregnancy"!
This amazingly anachronistic
story told of how President Lee
Stanford of the Florida Bible
College located in Hollywood,
Florida had thrown out of his
school one Deborah Clayton
(and the father-to-be) a 22 year
old student at F. B. C. Deborah
had done the unforgivable sin
of sins, she had unfortunately
become preznant without the
to
giveness and love for those who
might be considered to have
missed the mark we see in the
life and teaching of Jesus, so
legalistic and inflexible, so
lacking in joy and vitality, real-
ly depressed me in action. I
have just completed a letter to
President Stanford with a copy
to Ms. Clayton expressing my
vehement objection to his retro-
grade expulsion i action. Daily
readers might find interest in
investing 26c to vote for ra-
tional, forgiving religion as I
have tried to do. Letter copies
to Deborah can be marked
"please forward" and sent to
Florida Bible College. The Apos-
tle Paul had it right: "Now
abideth faith, hope and love,
but the greatest of these is
love",
Rev. Craig Wilder
April 7
(datinig service
To The Daily:
Before your readers get the
wrong idea about the computer
dating service recently adver-
tised in the Daily, I want to say
something in favor of it. When
I signed up, I was pretty ap-
without calling everyon
list. I've also learne
thing about people from
nerience: that simil
background, interests,
titudes is no guarantee
patability.
From my point of v
three bucks I spent
compute service was
the best investments I'
this term. I'm sorry
porter didn't do as we
Name withheld
request
April 10
To The Daily:
AS I SIT here, a perf
of Shakespeare's last p
Tempest, is taking pla,
is also a fire alarm.
false one.
I believe that in the
lar case of the Residen
lege and performances
RC Players, fire alarm
be turned off during a
show times. I realizet
is against the law, bu
fact that the observan
law subverts its own
It is common knowle
e on my
d some-
athis ex-
arity in
and at-
of com-
iew, the
for that
one of
ve made
your re-
in this building, and if a real
fire were reported to the desk
by a resident, there could be
investigation and action in lit-
tle more time than with the
alarm. If need be, these staff
members could announce to an
audience the need for evacua-
tion, knowing full well the pen-
alties for falsifying such infor-
mation.
7e Daily
ell. AS IS APPARENT, I avoid
by spelling of if the advarse effects
of false alarms on audience and
actor alike. They are too num-
erous and obvious. I only hope
that my use of simple logic
alarm will convince- the appropriate
administrators that turning off
ormance alarms during RC productions,
flay, The especially this one, will aid the
:e. There community and the principle
It is a of fire alarms in more ways
than can be included here.
particu- By the way, it should be an
ntial Col- excellent show. If there aren't
s by the any false alarms . . .
is should
appointed
that this
t it is a
ce of the
purpose.
-dge that
Tim Prentiss
April 8
Letters should be
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